Matt's Weather Rapport is written by Vermont-based journalist and weather reporter Matt Sutkoski. This blog has a nationwide and worldwide focus, with particular interest in Vermont and the Northeast. Look to Matt's Weather Rapport for expert analysis of weather events, news, the latest on climate change science, fun stuff, and wild photos and videos of big weather events. Also check for my frequent quick weather updates on Twitter, @mattalltradesb

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Congress to Defense Department: If Climate Change Causes Wars, Ignore It Because We Have To Deny Climate Change

In one of the most boneheaded moves I've seen, the U.S. House of Representatives have told the Pentagon to not spend any money on figuring out how climate change might cause instability, wars and that type of ugly thing.

The U.S. House wants the Pentagon to ignorethe question of whether climate change willcause military conflicts we should worry about.

The bill reads: "None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to implement the U.S Global Change Research Program National Climate Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report, the United Nation's Agenda 21 sustainable development plan, or the May 2013 Technical Update of the Social cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866."

All that gobbledegook essentially means the Pentagon can't use any major research on how climate change could cause political instability.

The logic is rich. Said Republcan West. Virginia Rep. David McKinley "Why should Congress divert funds from the mission of our military and national security to support a political ideology?"
Right. Does McKinley not recognize he is diverting funds from the mission of our military and national security to support a political ideology? He has a lot of chutzpah, that's for sure.

So let's keep the U.S military unready for conflicts that might or might not be exacerbated by climate change, because, God forbid we admit that climate change is happening.

Maybe we should also prevent the military from dealing with Islamic terrorists, too, since we don't subscribe to their ideology.